


What Lurks Beneath

by DittyWrites



Series: Scarecrow/Riddler Shenanigans [17]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Arkham - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Attempted mugging, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluffy Ending, Human Ed, M/M, Monster Jon - Freeform, Murder, Sweet, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 13:36:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12936390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DittyWrites/pseuds/DittyWrites
Summary: An opportunist mugger encounters the perfect target as he follows a well-dressed man traversing the streets alone but, as we all know by now, nothing is ever as it appears in Gotham City.





	What Lurks Beneath

**Author's Note:**

> This was my Secret Scriddler gift for the wonderful gotham-doodles over on tumblr.com! Their prompts was Monster AU and this is what came of it! I hope you like it, love xx

Gotham truly was a city of potential for a guy like him.

Metropolis did have some charm and Star City had a nice warmth to it but Gotham was always destined to be the city which you ended up in if you wanted to pursue a career outside of the acceptable social norms. Theft, murder and kidnapping all held an acceptable place within the darkness of the city and he, like so many others before him, was not averse to exploring and adding to that particular element of life.

His plan for the night had been simple. Get to the bar, sink a few shots and maybe try to pick up a chick before stumbling home to prepare for tomorrows day of lazy work.

However, his plans had been interrupted by the appearance of the man.

Ambling up the pavement on the familiar route to his favourite drinking haunt, he had been forced to pause as a middle-aged man, dressed in the most elegant yet garish green suit he had ever seen, emerged from the door of an apartment before him and started to walk ahead on the same street.

Hair almost fully hidden beneath a bowler hat, the faintest hint of the red strands could be seen curling at the nape of his neck, he cut quite a figure with his slim build and the general look of joviality on his face which was suggestive of his non-threatening appeal.

Everything about him screamed 'money'- from the well-cut nature of his lurid green clothing, to the gilded cane which he had delicately grasped within his hands as it tapped out a merry rhythm against the stone- and the temptation to target him had been too great to resist.

Another robbery statistic meant little to Gotham.

And so he followed him.

His footsteps masked with a practised silence, he made sure to keep a respectable distance between himself and his target. The fading light of the approaching evening had robbed the streets of their people and it was not difficult to keep track of the man as the sound of pleasant humming and faint whistling, the tune unknown, followed his every move.

Hands falling to his pockets, he allowed his fingers to caress the switch-blade he always kept on his person. Personal safety was always a necessity when it came to the streets of Gotham and of all the muggings and robberies he had committed over the years, he had found that a good blade provided the best results and highest earnings.

Not many were brave enough to stand up to a man who possessed confidence with a blade.

A touch of apprehension hit him as he realised they were headed towards the shopping district but as his target walked by each store without even so much as a glance of interest, he felt the tension that he may lose his mark to a well-lit establishment fade.

However, just as his fears were dissipating, the man stopped in his tracks.

Glancing upwards, towards the darkening sky, his gaze seemed to land on a large wisp of smoke which was gently wafting above one of the apartment blocks on the opposite side of the street. After contemplating it for a moment, the man turned around.

Shifting his own gaze to the doorways of the homes he was passing to show disinterest, a sigh of relief overtook him as the mans' look simply swept across everything- including himself- before returning to the front as he continued his walk.

And so his hunt continued.

However, as he navigated the abandoned streets an uneasy feeling of being watched pricked at his skin but every glance around him alluded to the fact that he was alone.

The feeling was intense enough to make him jumpy but an interesting development caused opportunity to knock at his heart as the man, instead of sticking to the main streets, diverted suddenly and disappeared down the darkened alleyway behind the Gotham Gals strip parlour.

Quickening his pace to catch up, he turned the corner of the alleyway only a few moments after the suit-clad man and was forced to pause as he discovered that the man was stopped only a few feet away from him. Aside from them both, the only other items within the alleyway were a collection of empty wooden boxes which were lined along the stone wall to the left and an odd dark grey smog which seemed to be lingering in the air, a few feet above his own height.

Back fully to him, his target stood perfectly still, as though waiting for something.

“I know, my dear, I can hear him.”

The man in green muttered into the night air before pausing and the nature of the pause indicated that he was expecting an answer from the empty space around him.

“Thank you for the vote of confidence.” He finished with a light chuckle.

 _Great_ , the thought rose unbidden in his mind, _the guy is probably as mad as he is rich._

Clearing his throat and extracting the switch-blade from his pocket, he allowed the sudden noise to alert the man to his presence and he waited until he had turned to face him fully before raising the blade in warning.

“Give me your wallet!” He demanded in a gruff voice, making no allowances for dissent from his victim. “Wallet, watch, and any other cash you have on you! Try to shout for help and i'll gut you here and now!”

Snorting as though a four inch stainless steel blade was not being waved inches from his face, the man tapped his cane on the ground in his mirth.

“Unlikely.”

Surprised by the complete absence of fear, he did not allow his surprise at the lack of immediate compliance to show as he took a threatening step forward.

“Listen here, guy-”

“Edward.”

“What?”

“My name,” the arrogance which clouded the mans' tone was undeniable, “is Edward.”

“I don't care what your name is and all this talk is gonna get you cut. So. Give. Me. Your. Wallet.”

Every word becoming more aggressive, he was practically hissing by the time he reached the final syllable.

“Not. Going. To. Happen.” Edward bit back, his amusement still very much clear. “Besides, even if I wanted to, my partner would never allow something so distasteful to occur. He is rather protective of me on these jaunts.”

“Partner?”

Head swinging around the abandoned alleyway, his eyes settled on the large, thick fence which separated the back of the strip joint from the alley. The fence was high enough to ensure that any punters or perverts could not sneak free looks at the girls as they dipped out for smoke breaks and the faint pound of the pulsating music from the club could be heard, even from this distance.

“You've been alone since you left your apartment.” He accused, his thoughts again of how this Edward must be mad clouding his judgement. “I've been hunting you down since you left your front door.”

A full bodied laugh met that claim and the genuine humour in it left him feeling further disconcerted and more than a little irritated.

This wasn't supposed to be how this went down.

The man, Edward, finished his laughter with a wolfish grin.

“YOU have been hunting ME down!” Edward chortled at the thought, hands clasped together over the gilded head of his cane. “You truly have no idea how wrong you are!”

A strand of his red hair fell free of its styled position and he paused to readjust it before continuing in a much lower tone.

“In the darkness of this city, there exist beings far more dangerous than you or I, my friend.”

Unsettled by the comment but unwilling to show it, he tightened his grasp on his switch-blade as it glinted in the dim light. Anger overriding sense as he realised that Edward had no intention of giving up his wallet easily, he lashed out with the blade, intending to injure the arrogant man a little to show that he was not playing around.

The knife had barely made it two inches forward before a searing pain across the back of his hand caused him to howl in agony and drop the blade from his grasp, allowing it to clatter to the ground uselessly.

Bringing his hand up to be inspected, he could see a deep gash which had been etched into his unsuspecting flesh and was now bleeding freely. His fingers were twitching involuntarily with the pain but he found that he was struggling to control them and a sudden concern as to the extent of the damage to his hand jabbed at his mind.

Cradling his hand, his gaze shot up again to demand an explanation from Edward, whom he assumed had somehow attacked him, when the sight before him cut off all his ability of rational thought.

There was an entity between them.

Not human.

Not human by any means.

A sense of pure fear rooted him to the spot as he was confronted by this being.

It was almost human, its body closely resembling that of an average man but everything about it was unnatural and wrong.

Wrong.

At around seven feet tall, the threatening shape was the owner of limbs as thin as twigs and it appeared to be clothed in the darkness of of the night itself. No discernible fabric seemed to cover it and yet it was so dark that it appeared as though it existed within a void of light itself. In lieu of hands, its extremities were curved like that of an insects and the glint of them laid suggestion to their razor-sharp abilities.

As it bent low to his level and its face became visible to his sight, the fear which had gripped him seemed almost foolish in comparison to the terror which now coursed through his veins.

Death itself was facing him.

Gaunt to the point of skeletal, there was no hint of humanity or warmth within the monsters expression as it stared him down and, despite its silence, he could feel the anger radiating off it in waves. Its thin lips were pursed tightly in disapproval as its eyes bored into him.

Its eyes.

Black as the night itself, the only hint of colour within them were the pinpoints of maroon which passed for its pupils, and he found himself unable to tear his terrified gaze from them.

Unable to speak, unable to even think, he stood frozen as the entity slowly turned from him and faced Edward instead.

“Why do you always insist on letting them get so close to you?”

It had spoken.

The syllables seemed to emit from the center of its chest rather than its mouth and the deep, raspy quality of it caused a fresh shiver down his spine.

Despite his fear, a jolt of surprise shook him as Edward simply smiled pleasantly at the creature as though addressing an old friend.

“Have you ever let me down before?” A placating hand rose from the cane. “I have complete and unshakeable faith in your ability to keep me unharmed.”

In the blink of an eye, the entity disappeared and the suddenness of it elicited a sob of terror from his throat as the supernatural talent of the creature was presented again before his eyes

Replaced with a dark grey smoke, it swam quickly through the air- passing through Edwards' very chest- before twisting behind him and solidifying at his side.

Turning patiently, Edward seemed unperturbed by the action as he again faced the monster.

“Your games,” the creature almost seemed to purr as it brought up one of its razor-sharp appendages to tilt Edwards' head up to meet him, “will get you hurt one of these days, my love.”

Love?

Love.

Edwards' speech about his 'partner'.

“ _In the darkness of this city, there exist beings far more dangerous than you or I, my friend.”_

He was in league with this monster.

Clarity hit him like a train and the intensity of it was like a galleon of freezing water through his system, short-circuiting his every ability. He had been played from the get-go and he had been foolish to think that he was ever going to be allowed to attack this man who consorted with the darkness itself.

Seemingly ignoring him, the duo continued their conversation as Edward rolled his eyes.

“My games? This is all for you.” He defended, tone coloured by a perverse fondness. “So hurry up and get this over with so we can return home and I can order in some Chinese food for myself. Not all of us feast on flesh and the decay of life itself.”

As he heard of his proposed fate in such a candid fashion, a grim acceptance knocked at the edges of his consciousness, piercing through the horror as he understood that his death on this night was sealed.

Still pinned in position and unable to move, the information seeped into every pore of his being as the creature tutted somewhat petulantly and turned again to face him; its thin lips parted, revealing sharp rows of teeth which shone starkly white from within the dark mouth.

Quick as a flash, it disappeared into smoke again and, before he could even squeak or cry out some form of plea for lenience, the monster was bearing down on him without mercy.

Pain hit him and it was excruciating enough to make his vision white out for a moment as each of the needle-like teeth sank into the soft flesh of his throat and ripped away at the delicate skin. However, it lasted only a moment before a numbness, originating from the bite, spread across his body causing his breath to come in short gasps and his knees to collapse from under him.

As his vision started to fade, his gaze settled on the green-suited man one final time and his pitiful, pleading eyes were met with a bored expression which seemed obscene given his dying state.

Unable to keep his strength with him any longer, he allowed his eyes to flutter closed.

x-x-x-x-x

As the last drops of life left the man who had been foolish enough to target him and Jonathan finished his meal, Edward pushed back the cuff of his suit to give himself access to his watch.

Plenty of time left to order food for himself.

The sound of tearing flesh caused his gaze to dart up again at his partner. Jonathans' elongated body was now fully crouched over the corpse of his would-be attacker as he ripped the flesh apart to feast on his preferred tidbits. There would be a considerable mess for the authorities to investigate but very little actual evidence due to their inevitable consumption.

A thought came to him.

“Are you needing another one?” He called out, his thoughtfulness colouring his tone. “Because if you are still hungry we will need to hurry this up before it gets too late and we are forced to deal with drunkards and junkies. They do not really agree with your system too well and you are far too boisterous when intoxicated by them.”

“I am satisfied,” twisting his head around, the fresh blood dripped from Jonathans' lips for a moment before he used a torn piece of clothing to wipe away the excess gore from his mouth, “his fear was delicious and he truly hosted a dark heart.”

“Don't we all.” Edward muttered with an exasperated smile. “Tasty then?”

Over their time together, Edward had discovered that the more darkness an individual possessed, the more enjoyable a meal they were to his delightful partner and he was more than happy to act as bait to lure out the very worst of humanity if it meant his pleasure.

“Wonderful.” Abandoning what remained of the body, Jonathans' waif-like form slipped through the darkness of the alley until he was again towering over Edward. “I also do not think we dedicate enough time to discussing how much I enjoy watching you lure in my potential meals. You play them all so well, like a harpsichord.”

“I love luring in your meals as much as I love having my own meals.” Edward answered him playfully, a slight blush gracing the apple of his cheeks at the unexpected praise. “So we should probably think about moving this along if I am also to indulge.”

“As you wish.”

“Escort me home?” Edward asked of his monster, eyes sparkling with mischief.

Quick as a snap, Jonathan shrunk down to a more human height, his face filling out slightly while his eyes were transformed from black to a robins' egg blue in a single blink as he transformed from his true state and adopted the form he preferred when hiding amongst humans. Or at Edwards' request.

“Always.” He conceded, holding out a thin arm for his human love.

The scent of blood was heavy in the air as the duo walked away from their kill, one satisfied with the outcome and the other gaining satisfaction by proxy. In all the years they had lived and hunted within this city, she had never failed to provide a steady stream of people who were perfectly suited for what was needed.

Gotham truly was a city of potential to a couple like them.

 


End file.
